I encourage regular closet sweeps and there is no better time to do it than early in the new year. I notice on the forum that some people got stuck in before my annual reminder. Brilliant.

Your goal is to have a small, fully-functional and efficient wardrobe. Trust me ladies, this is how you alleviate “what to wear” stress and save money. Here are the guidelines:

• Be ruthless: You’ll defeat the goal of the exercise if you’re not brutal about the process. Obviously, you need something to wear, so it might mean holding onto less-then-perfect items until you can afford to replace them.
• Create a holding zone: Store items somewhere (like in the garage or attic) if you think you might miss them later. These are the items you are unsure about passing on. If you haven’t missed these pieces after one year, find new homes for them.
• Keep a sentimental box: I’m not unreasonable. Unflattering items that are loaded with fond memories deserve a special place. We keep these items in a box in the garage so that they don’t clutter our small walk-in-wardrobe. Some of my clients have resorted to taking pictures instead of keeping the physical pieces as a way of optimizing space.
• Keep everything in sight and on hand: It’s not ideal to swap out seasons, or use more than one closet (that’s why I encourage a small wardrobe). Try to have all your clothes, shoes and accessories in one place. It prevents repetition and encourages ensemble creativity and variety.
• Create a closet system you can maintain: The crux is keeping your closet neat and manageable. There is little point in tidying up when your shelves are a shambles a week later. Create a storage system that works for you so that you know what you have at all times.

Once you have a fully-functioning wardrobe, adopt the ”one-in, one-out” principle. This forces you to keep things under control. Thereafter, the skill lies in updating your wardrobe with the right items and in the right quantities to keep your look current, appropriate and fabulous. Bring on the closet sweep!

Other posts in the closet organization category that you may want to consult:

• Your closet: inspiration or irritation?
• Wardrobe essentials
• Wardrobe favourites
• Wardrobe orphans
• Wardrobe golden oldies
• Fabulous unworn items: keep or toss?
• Closet Organization: Part 1
• Closet Organization: Part 2

Retailers in the northern hemisphere will be full of Spring merchandise in less than six weeks. It’s hard to get our minds around that fact when there’s still snow on the ground, but that’s the way the crazy retail cycle works. Here are the trends that I expect to see in stores over the next 6 months:

• Strong 80’s flair: I’m all for it.
• Prints: Butterflies and pastel florals.
• Maxi dresses: You know how I feel about this trend.
• Suits: Makes for a nice change. This is the year of the pastel suit.
• Cropped military jackets: Fabulous. I love military inspired items. Does anyone remember the Sergeant Pepper jacket?
• Floppy pants and baggy bottoms: I doubt harem pants will take off, but we’ve seen wide-legged pants make a comeback. I’m curious as to how this trend will be received.
• Zipper accents: The “tough girl” rock-chic vibe is hanging around. Another trend that I adore.
• Rompers and jumpsuits: They were fringe fashion last year and I hope they stay that way.
• Single shouldered tops: Interesting.
• The exposed midriff: I’m staying covered up.
• More fringing: A little bohemian flavour is fine.
• Daytime sparkle: We’ve already seen this trend come through. I wear my metallic poloneck during the day, dressed down with faded jeans and casual boots and it makes for a fun look.
• Bikinis: I’m sticking to a one-piece.
• More gladiators: Both flat and stacked. Love the trend but can’t wear the shoe. Oh well. I’ve come to expect footwear seasons with a limited assortment of wearable possibilities.
• Accessories: Oversized necklaces, pastel handbags and footwear, stacked bracelets and cocktail rings.
• Hair: Center partings.

The colors will be ice-cream tones:

• Brights: Turquoise, yellow, apple green and fuchsia
• Pastels: Blush, peach, light blue, aqua and lilac
• Neutrals: head-to-toe black and nude, nude, nude

Each new season brings with it a sense of excitement. As always, I’m chomping at the bit to share our feelings about what’s out there. So far, it’s the military influences, the zipper accents and colours like apple green and turquoise that excite me the most. Trends like maxi dresses, jumpsuits and bare mid riffs excite me the least. What’s your take on these trends?

The mood of Spring 2009’s colour palette. Yummy.

I’m not usually big on New Year’s resolutions because I believe that if we’re going to change something about ourselves, it’s a good idea to act immediately as opposed to waiting for the first day of the year. But this is as good a time as any to talk about style, fashion and shopping related resolutions for the year ahead, and the forum had a great discussion on the topic.

It was interesting to see a core set of resolutions emerge. These were shared by almost everyone who participated in the thread:

• to spend less overall and become more of a bargain shopper
• to purchase fewer fabulous items of greater quality
• to pass on items that are not absolutely perfect (minor alterations are obviously permitted)
• to shop for your dominant season
• to focus on footwear and accessories like handbags, scarves, specs and jewelry because they are cost effective ways of changing up a look

Here are some of the other fashion and style related resolutions that were shared on the forum:

• to do regular closet sweeps
• to improve closet organization
• to shop with a plan
• to learn how to correctly fit garments
• to get out of clothing ruts
• to shop more at thrift and consignment stores
• to eliminate closet orphans
• to get a great hairdo
• to let go of T-shirts (one of my favourites)
• to make an effort to look nice every day

These are fabulous resolutions and I share them whole heartedly. I have a few additional ones on my list:

• to add more skirts to my wardrobe – as much as I adore dresses, I’m on a skirt kick. I seem to wear jeans less frequently these days and I’m enjoying evolving my style in this way.
• to add more knitwear to my wardrobe – it takes a long time to warm up in my neck of the woods and I never seem to purchase enough knitwear. That’s not going to happen this year.
• to wear my cocktail rings – I stopped wearing my rings because I encountered problems with my wrists and didn’t want anything on my hands. My wrists feel better so I hope to wear my rings again.
• to have regular facials – taking care of my skin is my top beauty priority and I’ve found that facials work wonders. I am still trying to make these happen monthly but time is at a forever shortage. This is the year for monthly facials.

How many of these resolutions do you share? Do you have additional ones to that will inspire us?

The 1^st of January brings with it a sense of renewal. Out with the old and in with the new! But new doesn’t have to mean “brand new”.  Forum member Laura puts it well:

“it feels right at this point to re-use, recycle, re-purpose the things we already have”.

In 2009 I’m looking forward to finding, suggesting and discussing ways in which we can all look and feel brand new, within our means.

We at YLF wish you and your families a happy, healthy and fabulous New Year!

I thought we could end the year by sharing some thoughts on fashion and style in 2008. First, our wardrobes. New items or golden oldies, these were my all time favourite, “I don’t know what I’d do without them” pieces this year:

• Outerwear: Cream Soia & Kyo trench, long grey double-breasted tweed coat
• Jacket: Charcoal Rag & Bone military jacket, black belted biker jacket
• Dress: Little black ‘60’s go-go dress
• Tops: Anne Fontaine button down shirts
• Knitwear: Cropped citron cowl neck pullover, black military polo neck
• Pants: Cream and black micro-check skinnies
• Skirt: All my pencil skirts
• Shoes: Black Me Too Swann flats, grey patent biker pumps, Haflinger slippers
• Boots: Grey over-the-knee slouchy boots, black 20 eyelet Dr. Martens, cream spectator booties, cream calf-length slouchy boots, flat black patent weatherproof knee high boots
• Handbag: Red cracked patent tote
• Accessories: White watch, white and black specs, black waist-cinching biker belt

Second, the trends. Some general thoughts on fashion in 2008:

• Best trend: Stylish revivals of 80’s fashion.
• Most stylish celebrities: Cate Blanchett, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Kate Moss.

Finally, the most important thing I learned this year: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Never say “never” because you’ll surprise yourself over and over again.

Your turn!

I’ve noticed that people are getting confused when I talk about hose and hosiery. Unfortunately I have been negligent with the use of these words, carelessly substituting the one for the other when they actually don’t have the same meaning.

• “Hosiery” refers to everything that can be bought in the hosiery section of a department store (excluding socks). The term covers all variations and styles of stockings, pantyhose, nylons and tights.
• “Hose” is a shortened version of the word pantyhose, which is a type of hosiery. A pair of hose is not a pair of tights. Hose is usually sheer and transparent whereas tights are generally thick and less see-through.

To make matters worse, I sometimes incorrectly use the word “stockings” as a substitute for the word hosiery. This is a habit I learned at school, where we referred to the hose and tights that we wore with our uniform as “stockings”. Stockings actually refer to the thigh-high hose that are held in place with garter belts. I can assure you that I did not wear those to school.

From now on I shall use the words hosiery, hose and stockings correctly. Of all people I should know better and apologize for the mix-up. Interestingly, I thought that “laddering” was a universal term (for example, see my recent post on hosiery sizes). Apparently, in the US, people say something along the lines of “I have a run in my nylons” when they’ve laddered their hose. I guess we can’t help but lose some things in translation.

It was an unhappy moment last week when I received “The Must-Get Maxi Dress” hints of Spring mail from Nordstrom. They’re advertising the maxi or “patio dress” as the new length frock that you’ll wear now and as the weather warms. Banana Republic is sending a similar message about new chic dress lengths. Oh no.

Floor-sweeping, daytime maxi dresses in casual fabrics are not my idea of style. And it’s not a question of adapting the eye – I did not like the look in the 70’s and 90’s and I don’t like it now. To me they look unflattering, clumsy on all but the tallest gals, and inappropriate for casual settings because the length screams “formal”. Fabulous floor-scraping ballgowns, worn with heels for extra height, are the right place for this silhouette.

There are a small number of fashion items that I completely oppose because I don’t think they look good on anyone. The maxi dress is in this category. I was relieved to see that they were less popular in America this past year than they were in Europe, but that seems to be changing. I will be skipping this trend.

The post-Christmas sales are in full swing. Prices are being slashed as retailers deal with the economic slowdown and the bad weather over the last few days. Here are some of your online shopping options:

• Nordstrom: Save 40% or more on apparel, shoes and accessories for men. Shop the NORDSTROM Half-Yearly Sale.
• Boden: Shop the Winter Collection today! Enjoy 10% off plus FREE shipping and returns at Bodenusa.com! Shop Now!
• Lane Bryant: Enjoy 15% off outerwear at LaneBryant.com today! Use promo code 000151504 at checkout. Expires 1-02-09. Shop Now!
• Lucky Brand Jeans: Lucky Brand Jeans Twice Yearly Sale - 50% Off Select Items
• Saks Fifth Avenue: Celebrate the New Year with up to 70% off at Saks! Offer valid 12.27.08–1.07.09.
• Sephora: Wrap up the year with head turning steals and deals at Sephora!

Enjoy the low prices, but don’t buy anything you wouldn’t consider at full price. This and other suggestions I’ve made for shopping end of season sales also apply here.

Santa did pretty well this year. I finally unwrapped my new puffer coat. It’s gorgeous and will be put to good use over the next few months. I was also thrilled to receive more things on my wish list, like red wine tumblers, cheese knives, a stout red teapot, a set of dainty bone china tea mugs and a mother of pearl picture frame. Thank you everyone. I adore my gifts!

Extreme weather conditions in this neck of the woods put a sad damper on Seattle retail. Many of us were snowed in, which made last minute Christmas shopping impossible (even for Santa). I’m going to help Santa out by purchasing a few belated Christmas gifts. I hope to score the following in the post Christmas sales frenzy:

• Knitwear, knitwear and more knitwear
• Snow boots
• Another pair of slippers
• Gloves
• A set of good kitchen knives

Based on your wish lists, how would you rate Santa’s performance this year and what’s on your post-Christmas mega-bargain shopping list?

Whether you’re looking out a snowy window or celebrating in the sun, we at YLF wish you a very Merry Christmas. Hope your day is filled with fun festivities, fabulous food and plenty of laughter.